The Night King
by Loose Cannon Doccy
Summary: Those who believe the Volatiles are the most dangerous hunters in Harran are fools. Fools who will meet their ends at the hands of the Night King. One-shot.


**A/N: Hello, Doccy Larsson Seraphim here. I just found Dying Light a few weeks ago when it was on sale and holy fuck I love this game. But in particular I love Be The Zombie. The Night Hunter is so goddamn cool. It really stuck with me - so much in fact that I couldn't help but write a little something about the Night Hunter, or as I like to call it thanks to how it looks on Mutation 3; the Night King.**

 **If you like the story, please do leave a Favorite or maybe even a Review if you'd like. Or even send me a PM and tell me to kill myself - I don't mind. Just say 'hi' while you're at it as well.**

 **Alright, now enjoy the show I suppose.**

* * *

When night came, most other cities in the world would fall asleep; most of its population would retreat behind locked doors and walls and slumber the night away. Harran was the exact opposite. At night, the city would come alive - when the horrible monstrosities known as Volatiles would emerge from their nests and begin to prowl through the town in search for food.

And yet some brave Survivors would attempt to brave the night - the GRE would always airdrop supplies down in the night - relief packages and UV flares. The two airdrops during the day would always see much fighting over them, but only the most foolhardy and reckless would try to catch the one during the night.

Sometimes those foolhardy Runners would succeed in getting the much-sought after supplies either for themselves or their faction, and sometimes they would become just yet another poor soul at the mercy of the ruthless Volatiles.

Even those who had built safe havens for the night - enclosed areas surrounded by UV lights that would make the deadly Volatiles run for their lives would still live in fear of the ruthless predators that stalked the night. Live in fear of the night when the power would cut out at the worst possible time and allowed to Volatiles to directly storm their homes and they would become food for those inhuman monsters.

Every night was a night of prayers - prayers to whomever would be listening that the sun would come just a little sooner. That it would come just in time to scorch those creatures away, make them run for their lives back to their abominable underground nests - those horrible places filled with gore, piles upon piles of shredded flesh.

But the worst of nights were not the ones where the Volatiles scurried and prowled the outside, ready to rip apart anyone or anything unfortunate enough to be in their way - but the silent ones. The ones where the moon was high in the air and the Volatiles were silent.

Because during those nights, something far more terrifying would emerge from the darkness. The Night King, the Apex Predator, and the Alpha Volatile - it had many names. It would emerge to hunt down all those who dared to step foot outside of UV light.

Unlike the Volatiles who were but beasts in human form, the Night Hunter as it was commonly called was so much more. It would cut wires. It would open doors. It would scale even the biggest of barricades. It was intelligent. It did not live just on pure instinct - a dark intellect hid behind those eyes.

The Volatiles were fast - almost impossible to outrun. The Night Hunter was a death sentence. One moment you were alone, the next you felt its tentacles wrap around you as it came screaming towards you and ripped you apart in an instant.

It would not look for you - it would somehow know. When you heard it howl in the night, it would already be too late. No matter where you were it would see you, and it would be there. Watching. Waiting.

Unlike the Volatiles it did not even massacre innocent people for food. No, it would pounce you, murder you, rip you apart or crush you - but then it would leave your remains for the other Infected. There was a dark purpose behind its killings - not the simple gathering of food.

No, this was the purpose of a predator marking its territory. It would make it clear for all those who still lived in Harran that no matter how safe they thought themselves; they were living on borrowed time on borrowed land. One day, the King of the Night would come to reclaim its territory.

* * *

The moon was high in the sky and the streets of Harran were covered in darkness. It seemed to cling to the buildings like oily muck, as if it had a life of its own. But strangely, it seemed to be empty. All the Biters that would normally wander around mindlessly were absent - only one or two here and there.

Suddenly, a light stabbed through the darkness. Four men wearing vests with yellow claw marks and backpacks were quietly sneaking through the night. They were Runners working for Rais - headed for the sunset Antizin drop.

Everybody knew that those fucks over at the Tower didn't have the guts to go for the night-time drops; this meant there was free reign over several crates of Antizin if one could make it during the night, that is.

But Rais did not care for the dangers of the night, and so the Runners ran, thanking their lucky stars that the city seemed to be empty for them to make their run. But the moon's pale light shone down upon them, watching from above.

And so did the Night King. It stood there on the rooftop, its fiery eyes glowing in the dark. What light that came down from the moon shed some light on the creature's form - a tall human hunched over covered in black scaled skin dotted with spikes and a jagged crown of bony spikes.

Its baleful eyes stared down upon the four running figures, its clawed hands twitching ever so slightly. But the King was methodical - it did not move just yet. It remained still, its eyes trained on its prey.

In the distance, the Night King saw that vile purple light. That light it hated so much. His prey still had quite a ways to go. The Night King's scaled face made an expression that could resemble a smile, and the tentacles within its arms jutted out and slingshotted it through the air towards the airdrop.

Within a few seconds it was on the bridge. With a subtle manipulation of its throat muscles a purple ball of viscous liquid was prepared just outside the King's mouth. It harked and the ball went flying towards the airdrop, exploding in a burst of purple liquid that cut out the UV flare's light.

In its satisfaction, the King let out an ear-splitting, echoing roar that reverberated throughout all of Harran. In that instant, it knew where its prey was hiding. And it launched towards it, ready to kill.

In about ten seconds it had found its prey. The four Runners had heard the Hunter's howl and were on their guard. Their UV flashlights were on and they were actively searching for whatever horror had made that howl.

But in an instant all that discipline went out the window. One moment one of their Runners thought he had seen something - the next something came screaming at him and when they looked at what had transpired, the one unfortunate human who had been on the receiving end of the Night King's wrath exploded in a cloud of blood and clothes, before the horror vanished into the night again with another howl.

The Runners ran for their lives towards the airdrop, hoping it would contain UV flares, their one hope against this creature of the night. As the two first climbed up the concrete and onto the bridge, the third was caught by the Night King's grasp. The two swore they could hear him screaming for help as the Night King took him.

The two Runners ran with all their might towards the airdrop and frantically pulled the packages open. To their dismay, there was only Antizin. And in that moment the Night King came barrelling in from seemingly nowhere, smacking elbow-first into one of the two Runners with such force that it sent both the Runners flying. The one who had been standing with his hands around the Antizin was lucky to only be sent a few metres across the highway's pavement, while the other fell screaming off the bridge to his death.

The Runner came to his senses, seeing himself lie in front of the toppled crate of Antizin, the valuable medicine spilled carelessly on the ground. Then, with a loud 'whump', the Night King came for him. It landed on top of the toppled care package, staring intently at the remaining Runner.

The last Runner reached for his UV flashlight and attempted to scorch the Night King with its UV light - but to his horror the fall had broken the torch. And the Night King knew. The Runner stammered in fear. The Night King seemingly smiled as it stepped down from the crate, crushing a bunch of Antizin underneath its scaled feet.

The message was clear.

 _The Night King will not be denied. Harran is His kingdom. To him we are but ants. The Night King will not be denied, for He is the King who rules the Night. Our continued existence is merely at His whim. When He sees fit, we will all become the scarecrows that mark the kingdom of the Night King._

And then the Night King lunged.


End file.
